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4 May 2004 : Column 1443W—continued
President of Poland (Official Visit)
Andrew Mackinlay: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many hon. Members other than Privy Councillors have been sent invitations to banquets, receptions and other official events organised or hosted by the (a) Royal Family and (b) Government for the forthcoming visit of the President of Poland; and if he will make a statement. [170355]
Mr. MacShane: President Kwasniewski of Poland's State Visit will take place from 5 to 7 May. 106 Members of Parliament have been invited to hear President Kwasniewski's keynote speech at University College London on 5 May, 72 of whom are not Privy Councillors. 10 MPs have been invited to the State Banquet at Buckingham Palace, four of whom are not Privy Councillors and one MP who is not a Privy Councillor, has been invited to a reception for the Polish community at St. James's Palace the same night.
Four MPs have been invited to a seminar on economic reform to be held at Lancaster House on 6 May, two of whom are not Privy Councillors. 10 MPs have received invitations to the dinner given by President Kwasniewski at the Dorchester Hotel that night, of whom three are not Privy Councillors. 48 MPs have received invitations to a lunch at the Guildhall in honour of President Kwasniewski on 7 May, 35 of whom are not Privy Councillors.
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CABINET OFFICE
Panel for Regulatory Accountability
Brian Cotter: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office under what criteria a draft regulation will be referred to the Panel for Regulatory Accountability. [167508]
Mr. Alexander: As set out in the Budget documentation, any regulatory proposal likely to impose a major new burden on business will require clearance from the Panel for Regulatory Accountability, chaired by my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister, based on a thorough impact assessment of the proposal agreed by the Cabinet Office Regulatory Impact Unit.
The criteria for defining major proposals will be based on that set out in the Regulatory Impact Assessment guidance available at www.cabinet-office.gov.uk/regulation and copies are available in the Library.
Brian Cotter: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office if he will make a statement on the (a) role, (b) function and (c) membership of the Panel for Regulatory Accountability. [167509]
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office if he will set out the reformed functions of the Panel for Regulatory Accountability. [169017]
Mr. Alexander: The role of the Panel for Regulatory Accountability is to clear any regulatory proposal likely to impose a major new burden on business. The panel will consider all such proposals in the context of Departments' previous regulatory performance and the overall burden of regulation across key business sectors.
Apart from chairmanship by my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister, the membership of the panel remains unchanged, and information on the existing Panel can be found on the Cabinet Office website at www.cabinet-office.gov.uk and in the Library.
Public Bodies
Mr. Edward Davey: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office when he expects the next version of Public Bodies to be published. [169115]
Mr. Alexander: For 2004, the Cabinet Office are replacing the existing publication with a searchable database, accessible via the internet. Development and testing are continuing, but it is hoped the results will be available before the end of 2004.
Emergency Planning
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what the civil contingencies grant for emergency planning to (a) North Yorkshire, (b) the City of York, (c) Hambleton district council and (d) Harrogate borough council was in each year since 2000. [165088]
Mr. Alexander:
The Civil Defence Grant is paid as a contribution to the cost of civil protection at the local level. The level of funding available for counter terrorism and civil protection has substantially increased in recent years, including £330 million for counter terrorism work in the 2003 Budget.
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179 local authorities are eligible for the Civil Defence Grant. These are the authorities with a statutory duty for civil defence, namely county councils, metropolitan districts and London boroughs, unitary authorities, and Fire and Civil Defence Authorities. Shire districts, such as Hambleton and Harrogate, have no statutory duty for civil defence and therefore receive no direct funding from central Government. Shire counties carry out emergency planning on behalf of their districts and for this work they receive an additional amount included in their grant allocation, currently set at £12,000 per district.
The allocations of Civil Defence Grant to the authorities of North Yorkshire county council and the City of York council since the financial year 2000–01 are set out in the table. The increase in 2001–02 was due to the suspension of the process of allocating funding by use of a formula. Following negotiations with the local Government Association, the Civil Defence (Grant) Act 2002 re-established a formula, which led to the stabilisation of grant levels in 2002–03.
Financial year | North Yorkshire Civil Defence Grant | City of York Civil Defence Grant |
|---|---|---|
| 2000–01 | 161,369 | 50,525 |
| 2001–02 | 268,150 | 79,815 |
| 2002–03 | 244,137 | 71,834 |
| 2003–04 | 244,523 | 72,220 |
| 2004–05 | 244,523 | 72,220 |
Mr. Howell James
Norman Baker: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office (1) if he will make a statement on the process which led to the appointment of Mr. Howell James as Permanent Secretary in charge of Government Communications, with particular reference to political involvement; [167779]
(2) by what means the post of Permanent Secretary, Government Communications, was advertised to (a) Civil Service candidates and (b) the general public; [167780]
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(3) how many persons applied for the post of Permanent Secretary, Government Communications; how many were shortlisted; and how many were interviewed; [167781]
(4) if he will list the members of the panel who selected the Permanent Secretary, Government Communications. [167782]
Mr. Alexander: This post was openly advertised in early December, and the usual selection process for appointing Permanent Secretaries was followed and overseen by the First Civil Service Commissioner, Baroness Usha Prashar. The decision to advertise was taken with my agreement.
The post was advertised on the Civil Service Recruitment Gateway website and circulated to members of the Senior Civil Service. An advertisement also appeared in the national press in December. Headhunters were also engaged to complement this process.
Of the 86 people who applied, five were interviewed by the Panel.
The Panel to select the Permanent Secretary, Government Communications was chaired by the First Civil Service Commissioner, Baroness Usha Prashar. Also on the panel were Sir Andrew Turnbull, Head of the Home Civil Service and Secretary to the Cabinet, Sir Richard Mottram, Permanent Secretary of DWP, Bob Phillis, CE Guardian Media Group, and Sally Davis BT Global Products.
As is normal practice, the appointment of Mr. Howell James was approved by the Prime Minister on the recommendation of the Head of the Home Civil Service.
Recycled Paper
Norman Baker: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office if he will list the Department's main suppliers of (a) copier paper, (b) stationery, (c) envelopes and (d) paper for reports, in each case stating (i) the name of each paper used and (ii) the (A) recycled and (B) post-consumer recycled content of each paper. [167737]
Mr. Alexander: Information on the Cabinet Office's main suppliers of copier paper, envelopes, stationery and paper for reports are shown in the table.
(24) Elemental Chlorine Free pulp (ECF) is the process of bleaching the pulp without using harmful chlorine compounds.
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