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SCOTLAND

Ministerial Visits

Mr. Peter Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many overseas visits she has undertaken since her appointment; to which countries; to meet which institutions and bodies; and at what cost. [30315]

Mrs. Liddell [holding answer 25 January 2002]: Since my appointment as Secretary of State, I have visited Europe, North America and South East Asia, at an approximate cost of £17,500. My meetings on these visits focused on constitutional and trade issues and the Friends of Scotland initiative.

All travel is undertaken fully in accordance with the guidelines set out in the Ministerial Code and Travel by Ministers, copies of which are available in the House Library.

Ministerial Private Offices

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what the running costs were of (a) her Ministers' private offices, separately identifying expenditure on staff, and (b) her Department in each year from May 1997 to the nearest date for which the information is available. [40977]

Mrs. Liddell: The Scotland Office was established in its present form on 1 July 1999.

In the period 1 July 1999 to 31 March 2000, an incomplete year as it was the first for the Department, were £3.6 million, of which £2.0 million were staff costs. The running costs in 2000–01 were £5.7 million, of which £3.6 million were staff costs.

Litigation

Mr. Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many cases (a) her Department and (b) its agencies have defended in (i) industrial tribunals and (ii) the courts in each year since 1997; how many were concluded in their favour; and what the total cost to his Department of litigation was in each year. [41110]

Mrs. Liddell: The Scotland Office was established in its present form on 1 July 1999.

My Department has not been involved in any industrial tribunal cases since it was established.

Correspondence

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what the target time will be in 2002–03 for (a) Ministers to reply to letters from hon. Members and (b) officials in her Department to reply to letters received directly from members of the public. [44944]

Mrs. Liddell: My Department's 2002–03 target time for replying to letters is 15 working days in both instances.

Entertainment Costs

Mr. Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if she will list the total amount of money spent by Ministers in her Department since its creation on food, alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks for official entertainment purposes. [47210]

24 Jul 2002 : Column 1226W

Mrs. Liddell [holding answer 10 April 2002]: The information is not held in the form requested and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Mr. Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how much was spent by departmental special advisers on food, alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks for official entertainment purposes in each of the last five years. [46833]

Mrs. Liddell [holding answer 10 April 2002]: The Scotland Office was established in its present form on 1 July 1999.

Since that date, my special advisers have not spent any departmental funds on entertainment.

Press Office

Mr. Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what the total cost of running the Department's press office was in (a) 1996–97 and (b) the latest year for which figures are available. [46817]

Mrs. Liddell [holding answer 10 April 2002]: The Scotland Office was established in its present form on 1 July 1999.

The identifiable cost of running the press office in 2001–02 was £147,244. This does not include certain accommodation and support costs, which are not held separately.

Performance Targets

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland with reference to the 2000 Spending Review service delivery agreement targets, if a three-year rolling audit programme of local authorities by the Food Standards Agency in Scotland began in April 2001; and if a third of Scottish authorities were audited in 2001–02. [49073]

Mrs. Liddell: This is a matter for Scottish Ministers, but I understand that the local authority audit programme undertaken by the Food Standards Agency Scotland commenced in April 2001. The three-year rolling programme consists of each Scottish local authority receiving an annual partial audit, equating to a full audit over the three-year programme, and the target was met in 2001–02.

Recruitment

Dr. Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many net additional staff her Department has recruited in each month since June 2001 at (a) executive officer level and (b) administrative level. [52421]

Mrs. Liddell: My Department has recruited seven net additional staff in the 12-month period from June 2001—three at executive officer level: one in September 2001, one in november 2001, one in April 2002; and four at administrative level: two in June 2001, one in November 2001 and one in April 2002.

Press Subscriptions

Mr. Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland 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. [52824]

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Mrs. Liddell [holding answer 26 April 2002]: My Department subscribes to the following magazines and periodicals:

Title	Average number of copies
Economist	2
European Voice	1
New Statesman	2
Press Gazette	1
Private Eye	2
PR Week	1
Scottish Field	1
The Week	1
Spectator	2

Some titles are cancelled during the recess and the numbers supplied may vary depending on the location of Ministers. The total cost of magazines and periodicals in 2001–02 was £1,328.

Mr. Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland 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. [52823]

Mrs. Liddell [holding answer 26 April 2002]: My Department subscribes to the following newspapers:

Newspaper	Average number of copies
Aberdeen Press and Journal	2
Business AM	2
Daily Express	3
Daily Mail	4
Daily Mirror	3
Daily Record	5
Daily Star	2
Daily Telegraph	4
Dundee Courier	1
Evening News	1
Evening Standard	2
Evening Times	2
Financial Times	4
Guardian	4
Herald	5
Independent	4
Le Monde	1
Scotsman	5
Sun	4
Times	4
Tribune	1
West Highland Free Press	1
Sunday newspapers
Independent on Sunday	2
Mail on Sunday	2
News of the World	1
Observer	2
Sunday Express	2
Sunday Herald	4
Sunday Mail	3
Sunday Mirror	1
Sunday Post	3
Scotland on Sunday	4
Sunday Telegraph	2
Sunday Times	2

Some newspapers are cancelled during the recess and the numbers supplied vary depending on the location of Ministers. The total cost of newspapers in 2001–02 was £11,640.

24 Jul 2002 : Column 1228W

Parliamentary Questions

Mr. Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what proportion of ordinary written questions for her Department were answered within a week of tabling in each month since June 2001; and what proportion of questions for named day received a substantive answer on that day in each month since June 2001. [58987]

Mrs. Liddell: Approximately 60–70 per cent. of both types of written question were answered within the required time scales. In view of the large increase in the number of questions being tabled, an upgraded PQ tracking system is being considered as one of the options in improving performance in this area.

Staff Numbers

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many staff were employed by her Department on (a) 2 May 1997 and (b) 31 May 2002. [60926]

Mrs. Liddell: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my hon. Friend the Minister of State, Cabinet Office, on 13 June 2002, Official Report, column 1402W.

National Minimum Wage

Mr. Joyce: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many families are in receipt of the national minimum wage in each constituency in Scotland. [61303]

Mrs. Liddell: The information is not held in the format requested and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. However, some 110,000 people across Scotland have benefited from the national minimum wage since it was introduced in April 1999.

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