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28 Apr 2003 : Column 173W—continued

Civil Service

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Meirionnydd Nant Conwy (Mr. Llwyd) of 1 April 2003, Official Report, column 794, on the Civil Service, what the recruitment figures are for his Department. [108921]

Mr. Alexander: From 1 April 2001 to 31 March 2002 there were 79 new recruits to the Cabinet Office, which breaks down as follows:


Code of Practice

Mr. Allen: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office when the Cabinet Office Code of Practice on Written Consultation came into force; whether it applies to all legislation; if he will amend the Code of Practice to

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ensure a 12-week period of pre-legislative scrutiny is included in all bills; and what plans he has to place the Code of Practice on a statutory footing. [109370]

Mr. Alexander: The Cabinet Office Code of Practice on Written Consultation came into force on 1 January 2001 and applies to all public consultations. It does not apply to parliamentary pre-legislative scrutiny, the arrangements for which are a matter for the two Houses. My Department has no plans to place the Code of Practice on a statutory footing.

Part-time Workers

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what assessment he has made of the impact of the Part-time Workers Directive on staff in the Office. [109276]

Mr. Alexander: The Cabinet Office is committed to monitoring its policies and procedures to ensure there is no adverse impact on part-time staff.

For example, the Department has undertaken an equality audit of its new pay procedure, which included a review of pay awards and working patterns. The results are to be published shortly.

The Department promotes job opportunities for part-time staff by ensuring all departmental vacancies are open to part-time and job-sharing staff, unless there are justifiable business reasons why this is not possible.

Additionally, support is also provided via a departmental network for staff with part-time and alternative working patterns. The Network also works as a consultative body and helps to shape new Human Resources policies.

Regions White Paper

Joyce Quin: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what progress his Department has made towards the aim in the White Paper, "Your Region, Your Choice", of assessing the balance of staff between the centre and the regions in terms of effective policy design and implementation; and what examples there have been since the publication of the White Paper of the Cabinet Office deciding between locating new streams of work (a) in and (b) outside London and the South East. [108575]

Mr. Alexander: The Cabinet Office has a network of offices outside London and the South-East, and considers the geographical location of its offices as part of its normal business planning activity. Recent reviews have, however, concluded that the majority of the Cabinet Office and new streams of work need to continue to be based in London to enable the Department to carry out its central coordinating role effectively.

MINISTER FOR WOMEN

Stalking and Harassment

Miss McIntosh: To ask the Minister for Women how many female victims of (a) stalking and (b) harassment there were in 2001–02. [97715]

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Ms Hewitt: The 2001 British crime survey included a self-completion component on domestic violence, sexual victimisation and stalking. Analysis of data from this module is underway, and the Home Office hopes to publish the results this summer.

TRADE AND INDUSTRY

Arms Exports (Syria)

Mrs. Ellman: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will list UK arms sales to Syria from 1998 to 2002. [110249]

Nigel Griffiths: The Department of Trade and Industry's Export Control Organisation records details of all export licence applications issued and refused, which are published by destination in the Government's Annual Reports on Strategic Export Controls. Copies of the 1998, 1999, 2000 and 2001 Annual Reports are available in the Libraries of the House. The 2002 Annual Report will be published in due course.

The granting of a licence does not necessarily translate into actual arms sales.

Mrs. Ellman: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will list UK military licences granted to Syria in 2003. [110250]

Nigel Griffiths: Between 1 January 2003 and 7 April 2003, no Standard Individual Export Licences or Open Individual Export Licences were issued, where the end users were in Syria.

National Minimum Wage

Mr. Norman: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what estimate he has made of the additional costs that will be imposed on the care homes sector as a result of the increase in the national minimum wage. [109656]

Alan Johnson: The independent Low Pay Commission looked at this issue in their recent report to the Government. They estimated that their recommended increases in the minimum wage rates for 1 October 2003 would increase the wage bill in the social care sector by up to 0.5 per cent.

Broadband

Mr. Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many SMEs in (a) Suffolk, (b) Norfolk, (c) Essex, (d) Cambridgeshire and (e) the Bury St Edmunds constituency were connected to broadband in (i) 2000, (ii) 2001 and (iii) 2002. [109344]

Nigel Griffiths: These data are not available.

Departmental Offices

Andrew Selous: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the locations are of her Department's offices, including those of the Manufacturing Advisory Service, in the East of England. [109334]

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Alan Johnson: The Manufacturing Advisory Service in the East of England has an administrative head office at the Centre for the Advancement of Manufacturing and Technology in Chelmsford. Its Chief Executive is based at Cranfield University.

The offices of the Small Business Service, Trade Partners UK and the East of England Development Agency are located in Histon, near Cambridge.

The Government Office for the East of England and Invest East of England are in Cambridge.

The Business Link offices are in Huntingdon, St. Albans, Luton, Ipswich, Swaffham and Chelmsford.

The Insolvency Service has Official Receiver offices in Cambridge, Ipswich, Norwich, St Albans and Southend on Sea.

Oil and Gas Industry Development have an office in Great Yarmouth.

Departmental Pay

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what progress has been made with the pay review in her Department, agencies and non-departmental public bodies for which she is responsible, with particular reference to the gender pay gap; and if she will make a statement. [106751]

Ms Hewitt: My Department, including the Small Business Service Executive Agency has completed a review of its pay system in line with the commitment given by this Government in response to the EOC Task Force's "Just Pay" report. An Action Plan setting out how the Department plans to address the issues identified will shortly be in place.

Many of the NDPBs for which my Department is responsible have also completed reviews of their pay systems.

Agency Chief Executives will be replying on behalf of their organisations.

Letter from Dr. Roger Heathcote to Mr. John Bercow, dated 28 April 2003:




Letter from Dr. J. W. Llewellyn to Mr. John Bercow, dated 28 April 2003:


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Letter from Mr. Desmond Flynn to Mr. John Bercow, dated 28 April 2003:




Letter from Caren Fullerton to Mr. John Bercow, dated 28 April 2003:



Letter from Claire Clancy to Mr. John Bercow dated 28 April 2003:









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Letter from Ms R. J. R. Anderson to Mr. John Bercow, dated 28 April 2003:





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