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9 Apr 2003 : Column 281W—continued
Heart Transplants
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether (a) the project licence application to perform heart xenotransplantation experiments submitted in 1998 and (b) the project
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licence application to perform pig-to-primate kidney xenotransplantation submitted in 1999 were personally authorised by Ministers at his Department. [107245]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: Home Office records show that the grant of the relevant licence authority to perform pig to primate heart transplantation research was authorised at ministerial level. The licence authority to perform pig to primate kidney transplantation research was granted administratively, by Home Office officials, without reference to Ministers.
Probation Service
Mr. Liddell-Grainger: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how the closure of the West Somerset magistrates court will change the role of probation offices in West Somerset. [107333]
Hilary Benn: The Avon and Somerset Magistrates' Courts Committee has no current plans to close West Somerset Magistrates' Court. However, the role of probation officers would not change due to the closure of any magistrates' court. Probation officers would continue to provide services to courts wherever they were located and would continue to supervise offenders.
Road Traffic Offences
Mr. Hawkins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many speeding offences, detected by speed cameras, resulted in (a) court action, (b) the issue of a fixed penalty notice during 2002 and (c) neither of these penalties; and if he will make a statement. [107917]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth [holding answer 8 April 2003]: Data on the number of speeding offences detected by camera in England and Wales for 2001 (latest available) are given in the table. 2002 data will be available in the autumn.
| Number | |
|---|---|
| Prosecutions | 137,100 |
| Fixed penalty(16) | 877,500 |
| Written warning(17) | n/a |
n/a = Not available
(16) Paid, i.e. no further action.
(17) Data collected centrally from forces on written warnings given for speeding offences detected by camera not given as considered unreliable. A total of 17,300 written warnings for all speed limit offences were issued in 2001.
Sessional Orders
Andrew Mackinlay: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the performance of the Commissioner of the Police of the Metropolis in enforcing the terms of the Sessional Order of 13 November 2002. [107994]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth [holding answer 8 April 2003]: I understand from the Commissioner that the Metropolitan Police Service is extremely aware of the necessity to enforce the requirements of the Sessional Order. All pre-planned demonstrations take into consideration the Sessional Order during the planning
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process and subsequent implementation of the plan. Where impromptu demonstrations occur all possible steps are taken to ensure that the Sessional Order is maintained. On the limited number of occasions, when access to Parliament has not been available through the Carriage Gates, access was restored as quickly as possible.
Staff Numbers
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many staff are employed by his Department. [106295]
Hilary Benn: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to him by my hon. Friend the Minister of State, Cabinet Office on 4 April 2003, Official Report, column 891W, which details the available published information across the civil service.
WALES
Badgers
Mr. Waterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what recent estimate he has made of how many badgers there are in Wales; and if he will make a statement. [103969]
Departmental Annual Report
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales when the annual report of his Department will be published. [107879]
Peter Hain: I expect the Departmental Report to be published by mid-May.
Departmental Catering Services
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what the cost was of (a) the in-house canteen and (b) other catering services provided by the Department in 2002. [104258]
Peter Hain: My Department has no canteen. The only items which it provides are light refreshments (tea, coffee, soft drinks, biscuits) for meetings and chilled water for staff.
Departmental Expenditure
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what his estimate is of the expenditure of his Department on newspapers, magazines and periodicals in 2002. [106303]
Peter Hain: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 23 January 2003, Official Report, column 433W.
Departmental Pay
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what progress has been made with the pay review in his Department, with particular reference to the gender pay gap; and if he will make a statement. [106729]
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Peter Hain: Staff serving in my Department are all on secondment or loan from other Departments—predominantly from the National Assembly for Wales. Their pay is therefore set by their home Departments rather than by the Wales Office.
For its staff (including those seconded or loaned to the Wales Office) the National Assembly for Wales introduced a new pay system in 2001 aimed at closing the gender pay gap.
Departmental Website
Mr. Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will make a statement on the (a) cost of and (b) number of visitors to each website operated by his Department is responsible in each year since its establishment. [107637]
Peter Hain: The total operating cost—including the start up cost which cannot be separately identified—of the Wales Office website between 1 April 1998 and 1 July 1999 was £7,867.
The Wales Office was not charged for the running of its website between 1 July 1999 and 1 September 2000.
The operating cost of running the website—including the development of bilingual content—between 1 September 2000 and 31 August 2001 was £5,699.
For the period between 1 September 2001 and 31 August 2002 the Wales Office was invoiced £1,600.
The Wales Office was also invoiced £1,600 for running of the website over the period between 1 September 2002 and 31 August 2003.
Unfortunately hits for the Welsh Office website between 1 April 1998 and 1 July 1999 are no longer available. Due to a technical fault at our service providers, we are also unable to provide hits for the Wales Office website from 1999–2000.
In 2001, the Wales Office website received 291,212 hits and 142,966 page impressions.
In 2002, the Wales Office website received 527,536 hits and 269,627 page impressions.
So far in this year, for the period 1 January 2003 to 31 March 2003, the Wales Office website has received 166,473 hits and 85,499 page impressions.
Document Classification
Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many documents are held by his Department that are subject to security classification, broken down by category of classification. [107345]
Peter Hain: This information is not readily available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Entertainment Costs
Mr. Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales when he has entertained Labour hon. Members at public expense in the last 12 months; and at what cost. [106396]
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Peter Hain: In the last 12 months my predecessor and I hosted three receptions for parliamentarians—from all parties—Peers and others. The total cost of these was about £3,000.
Joint Ministerial Committees
Mr. Win Griffiths: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how often each joint ministerial committee has met since April 2001. [103373]
Peter Hain: Since April 2001 the plenary Joint Ministerial Committee (JMC) has met twice; JMC (Europe) has met six times; JMC (Health) has met once; and JMC (Poverty) has met once.
Market Research
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what expenditure has been incurred by his (a) Department, (b) agencies and (c) non-departmental bodies in 2002 on (i) opinion polling, (ii) focus groups and (iii) other forms of market research; and if he will list the surveys commissioned and the purpose of each. [106265]
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