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1 Jul 2003 : Column 208W—continued
Departmental Costs (Advertising)
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Solicitor General what the total expenditure on advertising by the Department
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was in (a) 2001–02 and (b) 2002–03; and what the level of planned expenditure is for (i) 2003–04 and (ii) 2004–05. [114422]
The Solicitor-General: A holding reply was given on 21 May 2003.
Expenditure on advertising by the Crown Prosecution Service is restricted to advertising job vacancies in the local and national press. The total expenditure by the Crown Prosecution Service was £684,420 in 2001–02 and £1,123,294 in 2002–03. The planned expenditure for 2002–04 is £558,731. Budgets for 2004–05 have not yet been set but expenditure is expected to be similar to 2003–04
The Serious Fraud Office has only incurred expenditure in 2001–02 of £64,000 and 2002–03 of £38,000 on recruitment advertising. It has not plans to incur expenditure in 2003–04 and 2004–05 on advertising other than for recruitment.
The expenditure on advertising by the Treasury Solicitor's Department met from public funds in (a) 2001–02 and (b) 2002–03 was as follows:
| £ | |
|---|---|
| 2001–02 | 122,300 |
| 2002–03 | (1)115,000 |
(1) Forecast
The advertising budget for 2003–04 is £135,000. A detailed budget for 2004–05 has not been decided.
Expenditure on advertising by the Treasury Solicitor's Department is directly related to the recruitment of lawyers to the Government Legal Service (GLS) and administrative staff.
Within the Department, the specialist Bona Vacantia division regularly places advertisements in the press seeking kin in cases where individuals have died intestate with no apparent claimants to the estate under administration. The costs for this activity are treated as an expense on the Crown Nominee's Account that is presented separately to Parliament. The advertising costs falling on that account for 2001–02 and 2002–03 have been £192,800 and £130,300 respectively.
The Legal Secretariat to the Law Officers and HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate have no budget for advertising.
Departmental Ministers
Mr. Horam: To ask the Solicitor-General how many Ministers there were in the Attorney-General's Department in each year since 1996. [120993]
The Solicitor-General: Two, the Attorney-General and the Solicitor-General.
Mental Health
Mr. Paul Marsden: To ask the Solicitor General how many of her staff have taken sick leave due to mental health problems in the last year. [111977]
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The Solicitor-General: The information is as follows:
During the period 1 January 2002 to 31 December 2002 the Crown Prosecution Service had 256 staff take sick leave through mental health problems.
During 2002, six employees took sick absence due to mental health problems.
Treasury Solicitor's Department
Five staff have taken sick leave due to mental health problems in the last financial year, 1 April 2002 to 31 March 2003.
The Treasury Solicitor's Department figures also cover the Legal Secretariat to the Law Officers and HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate.
TRADE AND INDUSTRY
Accident Surveillance System
Mr. Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what plans there are to introduce an alternative surveillance system in light of the decision to abolish the Home and Leisure Accident Surveillance System. [117791]
Mr. Sutcliffe: Although no new data will now be collected for MASS, the Government recognise that the existing database will remain a valuable resource for many years which should continue to be available for users. It will, therefore, be looking for proposals from other organisations that would be interested in taking it over. The value of the database should be enhanced by the inclusion of the last three years data which has been delayed by IT problems. The Government hope to be able to publish this later this year.
The report of the Accidental Injury Task Force identified a need to strengthen the surveillance of accidental injury at regional and local levels in the NHS. This will be the Government's first priority. However, it is too soon to say whether NHS surveillance will collect data on product involvement in accidental injuries in the sort of detail which HASS has provided. If detailed data is required on product safety issues, this can be collected through targeted surveys.
Aviation Stakeholders
Lembit Öpik: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether planned future guidance documents from her Department on subjects affecting general aviation stakeholders will be the subject of consultation with their representative bodies; and if she will make a statement. [122036]
Mr. Timms: The Department will use the wind energy, defence and civil aviation interest working group as a forum for preparing future updates of the guidance material on wind energy and aviation interests. General aviation stakeholders can register an interest in this work by completing the stakeholder feedback pro forma on
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page 55 of the interim guidelines, which can be found at: http:/www.dti.gov.uk/energy/renewables/publications/pdfs/windenergyaviation.pdf
Closed Consultations
Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry pursuant to her answer of 3 June 2003, Official Report, column 322W, on closed consultations, if she
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will list the closed consultations that are awaiting a response; on what date each consultation closed; and on what date she expects to respond in each case. [119839]
Ms Hewitt: Further to my previous answer the Department now has 10 consultations awaiting a response.
The expected response dates listed below are based on current plans but should be seen as a guide only.
| Consultation title | Date closed | Expected response date |
|---|---|---|
| Amendments to the Timeshare Act 1992; and proposed new Timeshare (Cancellation Information) Order | 31 January 2003 | End July 2003 |
| Advanced Television Services Regulations 2003 | 2 May 2003 | End July 2003 |
| Employment Agencies: Consultation on new regulations | 1 November 2002 | Autumn 2003 |
| Employment status in relation to statutory employment rights | 11 December 2002 | End of year 2003 |
| Equality and Diversity—Making it Happen | 21 February 2003 | Date to be announced in due course |
| Extension of the Application of the EU Regulation on International Accounting Standards | 26 November 2002 | End July 2003 |
| Export Control Act Draft Secondary Legislation | 30 April 2003 | Final orders are expected to be laidbefore Parliament in October 2003 |
| Future Offshore: A consultation on the future framework for developing offshore wind farms | 18 February 2003 | End July 2003 |
| Implementation of Directive 2001/90/EC (creosote) | 2 February 2003 | End June 2003 |
| WTO General Agreement on Trade in Service (GATS) Negotiations | 3 January 2003 | End July 2003 |
Credit Card Industry
Mr. Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what (a) credit card industry representative bodies, (b) consumer bodies and (c) representatives of the Financial Services Authority her Department has met to discuss the Honesty Box. [116301]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The Honesty Box has been discussed at meetings organised by my officials. Representatives of organisations such as the British Bankers Association, the Finance and Leasing Association, the Association for Payment Clearing Services, the Consumers' Association and the Financial Services Authority have attended these meetings.
I believe that the issue of transparency in the credit market constitutes a key element of the current review of the Consumer Credit Act 1974. As a result, I will be consulting later this year on proposals for simplifying the advertising regime for consumer credit and on standardising the form and content of credit agreements so that consumers receive key information in a clear and concise manner.
In particular I will be consulting on some form of the "Honesty Boxes" to set out, in advertisements or application forms, the key applicable interest rates and charges, which I believe could be a key element of our proposals to increase transparency.
Departmental Employees (Taunton)
Mr. Flook: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will list the projects and programmes which are funded by her Department and are administered in Taunton; and how many people are employed in administering those projects and programmes, expressed as a full-time equivalent. [121979]
Jacqui Smith: The South West Regional Development Agency (SWRDA) is currently funding 'Taunton Visioning—Town Centre Regeneration' which is administered by the Somerset Area Team based in Exeter.
The RDA employs seven people in its Somerset Area Team whose fundamental role is to deliver the RDA Corporate Plan in Somerset. This Team is supported in its work by RDA staff in central functions and local and sub-regional partners.
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