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6 Oct 2003 : Column 993W

Written Answers to Questions

The following answers were received between Friday 19 September and Monday 6 October 2003

MINISTER FOR WOMEN

Gender Pay Gap

Mr. David Stewart: To ask the Minister for Women what measures have been taken to address the pay gap between men and women; and if she will make a statement. [131312]

Ms Hewitt: The Government are taking action to tackle the complex factors behind the pay gap, including promoting voluntary pay reviews and good practice on equal pay. We have set a target for pay reviews and are working in partnership with businesses and trade unions, the Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) and Opportunity Now towards ensuring that 35 per cent. of large companies have done pay reviews by 2006. We provided the EOC with £100,000 to produce a toolkit to help employers conduct pay reviews and provided trade unions with additional funding to train over 400 representatives in equal pay issues. The Government have committed all civil service Departments and agencies to review their pay systems and produce action plans to close any equal pay gaps, 83 action plans have been submitted, representing 98 per cent. of the civil service. We are also taking steps to widen women's opportunities in the labour market. The Employment Act 2002 introduced measures to help parents maintain links with the world of work and better balance their work and home lives. These will help women return to the labour market and have a positive impact on the pay gap. The Act also introduced an equal pay questionnaire that will make it easier to tackle pay discrimination in the workplace.

People Trafficking

Linda Perham: To ask the Minister for Women what assessment she has made of progress in tackling the illegal trafficking of women. [127787]

Beverley Hughes: I have been asked to reply.

We have set out a comprehensive approach to tackle trafficking in women and other forms of organised crime in the "White Paper Secure Borders, Safe Haven" published in 2002. The United Kingdom was one of the first countries to sign the United Nations Convention Against Transnational Organised Crime, and its Optional Protocol to prevent, suppress and punish trafficking in persons, especially women and children. The Government also supports action to combat trafficking, in both European Union and international fora and has supported information campaigns aimed at alerting women to the risks involved in such illegal immigration.

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The Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 introduced a new offence of trafficking for the purpose of controlling prostitution with a maximum penalty of 14 years, and comprehensive offences covering trafficking into, out of and within the UK for purposes of sexual exploitation are included in the Sexual Offences Bill.

The Government have also recently published a trafficking toolkit, which will be a best practice guide for immigration officers, police and others potentially dealing with trafficking. A pilot scheme to support victims of trafficking to help them give evidence against their exploiters has been running since March 2003.

NORTHERN IRELAND

Battalion Disbandments

Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland who has ultimate authority on the disbandment of a battalion of a regiment within the Army. [120172]

Mr. Ingram: I have been asked to reply.

My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Defence has ultimate authority on the disbandment of a battalion of a regiment within the Army.

CABINET OFFICE

Civil Contingencies

Mr. Gerald Howarth: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what role the EU will play in civil contingencies planning. [130796]

Mr. Alexander: The EU is taking a leading role in facilitating multilateral emergency planning. Through the Committee for the Action Programme and for the Mechanism in the field of Civil Protection, the EU is establishing a Community mechanism to facilitate reinforced co-operation in civil protection assistance interventions.

While the UK continues to retain national responsibility for its own contingency planning, there may be cases where the resources of one nation are unable to cope with the scale of a particular incident.

In such exceptional circumstances we would expect the full co-operation of the member states and institutions of the European Union, including the Health and Safety Committee, in containing and resolving the situation. To this end the European Union's civil protection Monitoring and Information Centre would facilitate and co-ordinate any request for assistance from Member States.

Asbestos

Dr. Cable: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how much has been spent by his Department and its agencies on (a) asbestos surveys and (b) the management and removal of asbestos since 1 January

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2001; and what budget is available to (i) commission asbestos surveys and (ii) manage and remove asbestos from buildings in (A) 2003 and (B) 2004. [130916]

Mr. Alexander: The Cabinet Office has undertaken asbestos surveys for the London and Basingstoke Estate, the GCDA buildings, HMSO (Norwich), Emergency Planning College (York), the COI and the CMPS Residential Training Centre (Sunningdale). This has identified risk areas and how this can best be managed.

The costs incurred since 2001 are as follows:

London Estate

No data on the costs of asbestos surveys and work pre-April 2002 are available, with the exception of the refurbishment project in Admiralty House and 22–26 Whitehall, where the cost of identifying and removing asbestos was £291,000. Expenditure in the management and removal of asbestos on the London Estate since April 2002 is £9,000.

Basingstoke Estate

The control of asbestos is the responsibility of the building's landlord. Some low risk asbestos has been found and removed but no costs were incurred.

GCDA

No asbestos identified and no costs incurred.

HMSO (Norwich)

The control of asbestos is the responsibility of the building's landlord. No risk has been identified and no costs were incurred.

Emergency Planning College (York)

No expenditure incurred in 2001 and 2002.

CMPS Residential Training Centre (Sunningdale)

Since 1 January 2001, £511 has been spent on asbestos surveys and £6,000 on asbestos removal (the latter amount was paid in 2003).

COI

No expenditure was incurred in 2001 and 2002.

The budgets available in 2003 and 2004 are as follows:

London Estate

The Cabinet Office's FM provider, as part of their fixed annual fee, maintains all asbestos surveys. No specific budget has been identified for the removal of asbestos, as there are no high-risk areas unless areas are disturbed due to building works. Costs of required measures will be identified and incorporated into any budgeted project costs at the time of the works.

Basingstoke Estate

No further risks have been identified and therefore no specific budget allocated.

GCDA and HMSO (Norwich)

No risk identified; therefore, no specific budget allocated.

Emergency Planning College (York)

The budget for 2003 for surveys is £5,725; for the management and removal it is £18,500. All of this work has been completed. The budget for 2004 for management and removal is £10,500.

CMPS Residential Training Centre (Sunningdale)

In May 2002 the Cabinet Office commenced a PPP contract with Initial Style Conferences Ltd. (ISC) to manage Sunningdale Park. All risks and expenditure relating to asbestos is now the responsibility of ISC.

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COI

As the asbestos previously identified was deemed as being of low risk, costs of its management and removal will be included as part of any future refurbishment works. No separate cost data are available.

Information Technology

Dr. Pugh: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what IT projects with a value in excess of £10,000 the Cabinet Office authorised in each of the last three financial years. [124424]

Mr. Alexander: I have today placed in the Libraries of the House a summary of IT projects with a value in excess of £10,000 that my Department authorised in the last three financial years.

It has been compiled from centrally held records and those maintained by existing business units, but, due to changes in my Department over the last three years, will not capture all projects that were managed by units that no longer exist.

The summary excludes any projects undertaken by the executive agencies of my Department (i.e. the Central Office of Information and the Government Car and Despatch Agency).

Mr. Flight: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many outsourced IT contracts have been signed by his Department in each year since 1997; how much each of these contracts is worth; with whom they are signed; how many have been renegotiated; how many are still in place; and if he will make a statement. [126209]

Mr. Alexander: My Department has signed 21 outsourced IT contracts since 1 April 1997. 20 of these contracts were awarded to the suppliers listed below for the delivery of services in connection with the Government Gateway. Of these, 9 have been renegotiated and 14 are currently in place. The estimated total value of these contracts is just over £117 million.





















A further contract for the provision of my Department's internal office systems and ancillary services was awarded to Compaq Computer Limited (now HP Ltd.) in January 2000 and runs for five years,

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with the option to extend for a further two years. This was the renewal of an existing outsourced contract. The estimated expenditure on the core services over five years is in the region of £15 million.

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