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Press Subscriptions

Mr. Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will list the newspapers subscribed to (a) Monday to Saturday and (b) on Sunday by her Department, stating for each subscription (i) the number of copies taken, and (ii) the annual cost. [52819]

Ms Hewitt: My Department's expenditure on newspapers and mass circulation magazines for the financial year 2001–2002 was £201,341.

This includes expenditure on national newspapers, regional newspapers, and mass circulation magazines. A list of titles and the number of copies taken cannot be supplied except at disproportionate cost.

Mr. Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will list the magazines and periodicals subscribed to by her Department, stating for each subscription the (a) number of copies taken and (b) annual cost. [52820]

Ms Hewitt: My Department's expenditure on periodicals for the financial year 2001–2002 was £408,650

This includes expenditure on general and academic periodicals, plus annual reference and statistical publications. Expenditure on mass circulation magazines is included in the answer to PQ No. 52819. A list of titles and the number of copies taken cannot be supplied except at disproportionate cost.

Websites

Mr. Moore: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment she has made of the potential for confusion between the websites www.ukonline.gov.uk and www.ukonline.co.uk; and what discussions have been held with the proprietors of the private site to minimise this. [51560]

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Mr. Leslie: I have been asked to reply.

Discussions were held with UK Online the Internet Service Provider (ISP) about how to distinguish our respective sites. The presentation of the Government UK online site was modified to distinguish it from the ukonline.co.uk site and it was agreed that mutual links to each others' sites would be put in place.

CULTURE, MEDIA AND SPORT

The Queen Mother

Miss Begg: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what the cost to public funds was of (a) official actions arising from the death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother until the funeral and (b) the funeral. [52261]

Tessa Jowell: A number of organisations were involved in the preparations for the funeral of Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother. They are now starting to settle bills and prepare detailed estimates. It is still too early to provide an estimate of the likely final cost of the funeral arrangements.

Correspondence

Mr. Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how she determines whether a letter from (a) a member of the public and (b) an hon. Member receives a reply personally signed by (i) her, (ii) other Ministers in her Department and (iii) her officials. [52887]

Tessa Jowell: The decision as to who replies to correspondence is based on advice from officials. Of the 28,593 items of correspondence received by the Department in 2001–2002, all letters from honourable Members (18 per cent) received a reply from Ministers as did 8 per cent of the letters received from the general public.

Mr. Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many (a) letters and faxes and (b) e-mails addressed to (i) her, (ii) other Ministers in her Department and (iii) officials her Department have received since 8 June 2001. [52888]

Tessa Jowell: In 2001–2002 the Department received 28,593 items of correspondence via letter, fax and email.

Mr. Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if her Department takes into account the political party of hon. Members when answering (a) letters from and (b) written questions tabled by hon. Members. [52879]

Tessa Jowell: No.

Mr. Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many letters (a) she and (b) Ministers in her Department have personally signed since 8 June 2001. [52889]

Tessa Jowell: Between 8 June 2001 and 27 March 2002 DCMS Ministers personally replied to 5,240 items

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of correspondence from hon. Members and the general public as follows;

Number
Secretary of State673
Minister for the Arts673
Minister for Sport2,323
Minister for Tourism, Film and Broadcasting1,571

This excludes letters originating from Ministers as these records are not collected centrally.


Mr. Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what her Department's targets are for the length of time taken from the receipt of a letter from (a) a member of the public and (b) an hon. Member to the sending of a reply; and if those targets have been met since 8 June 2001. [52886]

Tessa Jowell: I refer the hon. Member to the answers given to the hon. Member for Buckingham (Mr. Bercow) on 25 March 2002, Official Report, column 576W and on 17 April 2002, Official Report, column 955W.

Ministerial Visits

Mr. Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport which constituencies (a) she and (b) other Ministers in her Department have visited since 8 June 2001. [52885]

Tessa Jowell: Ministers in DCMS have made a number of official visits since 8 June 2001 but the information you have requested could only be provided at disproportionate cost. These visits allow Ministers to see developments in their sector at local and regional level at first hand and to demonstrate their support for such projects and initiatives.

Parliamentary Questions

Mr. Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will make a statement on the method by which it is decided whether (a) she or (b) other Ministers in her Department answer oral questions in the House. [52878]

Tessa Jowell: Responsibility for answering oral Questions is initially allocated according to Ministerial responsibility with the Minister for Tourism, Film and Broadcasting answering on behalf of the Minster for the Arts. This is then adjusted to ensure an even spread of Questions between Ministers.

Ceremonial Occasions

Mr. Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will make a statement on the role of her Department in the (a) funding and (b) organisation of state and royal ceremonial occasions. [52880]

Tessa Jowell: My Department is responsible for providing and funding certain facilities for state and royal ceremonial occasions. They are:


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LORD CHANCELLOR'S DEPARTMENT

Secondments

Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department how many staff were seconded between (a) PWC Consulting and Pricewater- houseCoopers, (b) Ernst & Young, (c) Deloitte & Touche, (d) KPMG and (e) Andersen and his Department in (i) 1999–2000, (ii) 2000–01 and (iii) April 2001 to the latest date for which figures are available. [33869]

Mr. Wills: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by the Deputy Prime Minister to the hon. Member for Perth (Annabelle Ewing) on 26 February 2002, Official Report, column 1265W.

Press and Public Relations

Mr. Andrew Turner: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what the annual budget for communications activities, including press, public relations, marketing and internal communications, was for his Department for each financial year from 1997–98 to 2001–02. [39923]

Mr. Wills: The Lord Chancellor's Department's communications functions were incorporated into a new group in 1998. The full annual costs for arrangements for earlier FYs are no longer available. The annual budget since 1999–2000 for the LCD Communications Group, which serves LCD Headquarters; the Court Service; the Law Commission and the Official Solicitor's Office is listed below. These figures include salaries and other staff costs. The costs of any work done in other parts of the Department which contributed to communications objectives are not available.

£
1999–2001927,000
2000–20021,081,000 (Plus funding of £4 million for a public information campaign on the introduction of the Community Legal Service).
2001–20031,431,000 (Estimated to end of financial year).

During this period, the staff of Communications Group increased from 12 in 1998–1999 to 24 in 2001–2002 which reflects the increased responsibilities of the Lord Chancellor's Department including functions transferred from other Government departments, and the development of the LCD website team.



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