30 Jan 2003 : Column 945W
Written Answers to Questions
Thursday 30 January 2003
CABINET OFFICE
Government Car Service
Norman Baker: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office whether a Minister's spouse or partner may use a Government car for official engagements when not accompanied by the Minister. [94992]
Mr. Alexander: The rules on the use of an official car by a Minister's spouse or partner are set out in "Travel by Ministers".
Press Releases
Mr. Laws: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many press releases have been issued by his Department in each (a) year and (b) quarter from 1995–96 to 2002–03; and if he will make a statement. [92427]
Mr. Alexander: The number of press releases issued by the Cabinet Office since 1995 is as follows:
- 1995—128
1996—135
1997—189
1998—277
1999—343
2000—381
2001—196
2002—106
Lists and copies of Cabinet Office press releases issued from 1999 are available at http://www.cabinet-office.gov.uk.
Providing quarterly figures since 1995–96 could be supplied only at disproportionate cost.
Public Appointments
Mr. Allen: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what plans he has to extend the opportunities for members of the public to receive appointments to public bodies, task forces and ad hoc advisory committees. [93388]
Mr. Alexander: As Cabinet Office Minister responsible for public appointments, work is currently under way in my Department on a new website, through which people will be able to get details of current and prospective public appointment vacancies across Departments. This new website will enable people to
30 Jan 2003 : Column 946W
search on the basis of topic, Government Department, location of the body etc. and will be linked through to the job specification and how to apply. The new website will be complemented by a biannual newsletter so that access to the internet is not a barrier. The website and newsletter will be available in the course of the year.
Individual Departments are responsible for appointments to the public bodies they sponsor, and for setting up and organising the membership of specific task forces and ad hoc advisory committees.
Publicity and Advertising
Mr. Laws: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how much (a) his Department and (b) each agency and non-departmental public body sponsored by his Department spent on (i) publicity and (ii) advertising in each year from 1995–96 to 2000–03 (estimated); and if he will make a statement. [92230]
Mr. Alexander: Details of my Department's spend on (i) publicity and (ii) advertising in each year from 1997–98 to 2001–02 can be found in the table. Information prior to 1997–98 is not held on the Department's accounting system and is therefore available only at disproportionate costs.
| Year | Publicity | Advertising |
|---|---|---|
| 1997–98 | 472 | 144 |
| 1998–99 | 1,634 | 138 |
| 1999–2000 | 2,551 | 262 |
| 2000–01 | 1,803 | 464 |
| 2001–02 | 4,260 | 2,708 |
The estimated spend on publicity and advertising in 2002–03 is £2,106,000. This is based on actual expenditure incurred up to and including December and forecast expenditure for the remaining months of the financial year. It is not possible to separate out the publicity costs from the advertising costs without incurring disproportionate cost.
Expenditure incurred by non-departmental public bodies sponsored by my Department are not held on our accounting system and is therefore available only at disproportionate cost.
The increase in publicity expenditure between 1997–98 and 1999–00 is due to expenditure in connection with Year 2000 compliance awareness.
The increase in publicity expenditure from 2000–01 to 2001–02 from £1,803 to £4,260,000 is due to expenditure of £2,670,000 incurred by the Office of the E-Envoy for the UK Online advertising campaign, offering help to people wanting to use the internet.
The increase in advertising expenditure from 1998–99 to 2000–01 from £138,000 to £464,000 is due to expenditure on recruitment advertising for posts within the Department. These posts range from administration and junior management level through to the senior civil service. Also included is recruitment advertising expenditure for specialist placements within the Government Information and Development Centre.
30 Jan 2003 : Column 947W
The advertising figure for 2001–02 includes £2,491,000 incurred in by the Office of the E-Envoy for the UK Online advertising campaign, offering help to people wanting to use the internet.
Sickness Absence
Mr. Laws: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what the rate of staff (a) absenteeism and (b) sickness was in his Department and each of its agencies and non-departmental public bodies in each year from 1990–91 to 2002–03; what the target set is for his Department; and if he will make a statement. [93508]
Mr. Alexander: Absenteeism is defined as unauthorised absence for which pay would be stopped. The Cabinet Office (and agencies) keep records of unpaid absence generally but they also include authorised absence. Separating the records could be achieved only at disproportionate costs.
Sick absence figures for government departments are published annually in the report "Analysis of Sickness Absence in the Civil Service" . The most recent report for calendar year 2001 was announced by Ministerial Statement 19 December 2002. Copies are available in the Libraries of the House. Figures for 2002 will be announced later this year.
Cabinet Office figures (including its agencies and non-departmental public bodies) are
| Days per staff year | |
|---|---|
| 1993 | 7.3 |
| 1994 | 6.3 |
| 1995 | 7.7 |
| 1996 | 6.4 |
| 1997 | 6.6 |
| 1998 | 7.3 |
| 1999 | 6.8 |
| 2000 | 4.6 |
| 2001 | 5.7 |
30 Jan 2003 : Column 948W
Figures for 1990–92 are not available.
Our target for reducing sick absence is no more than
- 6.0 days per staff year by the end of 2003
- 7.4 days per staff year in 1998
6.4 days per staff year by 2001
CULTURE, MEDIA AND SPORT
National Lottery
Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what level of funds unallocated to good causes has been held by each of the Lottery fund distributors in each of the past five years; what percentage of their total balance this represented in each year; and if she will make a statement. [94138]
Mr. Caborn: All funds held in the National Lottery Distribution Fund (NLDF) are allocated to one of the Good Causes. Information regarding funds not yet committed to projects by each distributing body is only readily available in the form requested for the past three years. The figures in the following table show the position at the end of each of the last three completed financial years.
Note:
A negative figure in the table appears where a distributing body's commitments exceed its balance. The figure in the 'Total' row for uncommitted funds is the sum of the positive amounts only. Negative figures have been treated as zero in these calculations.
30 Jan 2003 : Column 949W
Although some distributing bodies have funds in their NLDF balances which are not yet assigned to projects, the collective allocation of the 15 bodies is more than the total NLDF balance. The total level of commitment at September 2002, the latest date for which figures are available, stood at £3.99 billion, £470 million more than the balance of the NLDF at that time.
The question of how best to deliver Lottery money most effectively was a part of the recent consultation exercise on Lottery Distribution Policy carried out by my Department. Proposals arising from this exercise will be published later this year.
Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what assessment she has made of the variation in expenditure relative to revenue received of the Lottery income distributing bodies; and if she will make a statement. [94139]
Mr. Caborn: There are significant differences between the 15 Lottery Distributing Bodies in terms of the nature of their activities and the type and timescale of the projects that they support.
There are therefore good reasons why different bodies will draw down funds raised for them at different rates. DCMS is working with the distributors to encourage and facilitate greater commitment of Lottery funds and the faster expenditure of committed money. This must however be consistent with the principles of good financial management and accountability.
At 30 September 2002, the distributors collectively had made commitments, with varying degrees of firmness, totalling 3.99 billion while the amount held in the National Lottery Distribution Fund (NLDF) at this time was 3.52 billion.
Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what representations she has received concerning the accountability of the Lottery Fund distributing bodies and their application processes to (a) applicants, (b) the public and (c) her Department; what assessment she has made of them; and if she will make a statement. [94140]
Mr. Caborn: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has from time to time received representations about the accountability of the Lottery distributors and their application processes. The Accounting Officer of a Lottery distributor is accountable to both the Department's Permanent Secretary and to Parliament for the proper and prudent expenditure of funds, and distributors' activities are subject to external audit by the National Audit Office. As Lottery proceeds allocated to distributors are public money, the general
30 Jan 2003 : Column 950W
principles of Government Accounting must be applied in the design and implementation of systems for the distribution of that money. Each Lottery distributing body must, under the terms of its financial directions, publish and make available guidance on how to apply for funds.
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |