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18 May 2004 : Column 849W—continued
HOUSE OF COMMONS COMMISSION
Hon. Members (Facilities)
Mrs. Lawrence: To ask the hon. Member for Roxburgh and Berwickshire, representing the House of Commons Commission what the total expenditure on facilities entirely for the use of hon. Members was in each year since 1995. [174150]
Sir Archy Kirkwood:
There are few facilities that are used exclusively by hon. Members. The facilities that are exclusively for Members include Members' Offices, the Smoking Room, the Chess Room, the three Lady
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Members' rooms, the Members' changing room and the Members' cloakroom. We do not have sufficient disaggregated data on the cost of running these facilities to provide the information requested.
House Employees
Mrs. Lawrence: To ask the hon. Member for Roxburgh and Berwickshire, representing the House of Commons Commission how many employees there were as at 1 January, in each year since 1995 in the House (a) Works Services Directorate, (b) Operations Directorate, (c) Personnel Policy Directorate, (d) Internal Review Services Directorate, (e) Financial Management Directorate, (f) Communications Directorate and (g) Estates Directorate. [174153]
Sir Archy Kirkwood: The information requested is as follows. The information is not available for 1 January; the reference date used is therefore 31 March. For 1 April 2002 and previous years the breakdown requested is not available, but more general information about the numbers of staff in House departments is available in the House of Commons Commission's Annual Reports for those covering years.
| Directorate | Employees at 1 April 2003 | Employees at 1 April 2004 |
|---|---|---|
| Works Services | 138 | 141 |
| Operations (Department of Finance and Administration) | 74 | 75 |
| Personnel Policy | 20 | 20 |
| Internal Review Services | 6 | 7 |
| Financial Management | 25 | 21 |
| Communications | 60 | 69 |
| Estates | 22 | 24 |
House of Commons (Running Costs)
Mrs. Lawrence: To ask the hon. Member for Roxburgh and Berwickshire, representing the House of Commons Commission what the total annual running costs were in each year since 1995 of the House (a) Works Services Directorate, (b) Operations Directorate, (c) Personnel Policy Directorate, (d) Internal Review Services Directorate, (e) Financial Management Directorate, (f) Communications Directorate and (g) Estates Directorate. [174152]
Sir Archy Kirkwood: The table shows the annual costs to the House of running the named directorates since 1995–96. These are the administrative costs; they do not include capital expenditure, or the cost of general services provided for the House as a whole, but which are managed within each directorate's budgets. For example, the Estates Directorate pays rent and rent and rates for the whole of Parliament, but this is not included in the figures.
Not all of the directorates have been in existence since 1995–96; costs are provided from the time of their establishment.
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| Directorate | 1995–96 | 1996–97 | 1997–98 | 1998–99 | 1999–00 | 2000–01 | 2001–02 | 2002–03 | 2003–04 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Works Services | — | — | — | — | — | — | 2,728 | 2,525 | 2,646 |
| Operations | — | — | — | — | — | 1,453 | 1,746 | 1,810 | 1,973 |
| Personnel Policy | — | — | — | — | — | 418 | 330 | 280 | 323 |
| Internal Review Services | 228 | 216 | 176 | 138 | 154 | 177 | 233 | 246 | 255 |
| btFinancial Management | — | — | — | — | — | 530 | 549 | 524 | 469 |
| Communications | 334 | 741 | 1,278 | 1,663 | 1,661 | 1,620 | 1,825 | 2,390 | 2,954 |
| Estates | — | — | — | — | — | — | 428 | 393 | 535 |
Officers of the House
Mrs. Lawrence: To ask the hon. Member for Roxburgh and Berwickshire, representing the House of Commons Commission how many officers other than Clerks there were in the House on 1 January in each year since 1995. [174151]
Sir Archy Kirkwood: The information requested is as follows. The information is not available for 1 January each year; the reference date is therefore 31 March each year.
| Number | |
|---|---|
| 1995 | 110 |
| 1996 | 113.5 |
| 1997 | 118.5 |
| 1998 | 118.5 |
| 1999 | 122.5 |
| 2000 | 127.5 |
| 2001 | 132 |
| 2002 | (2)142 |
| 2003 | (2)141 |
| 2004 | (2)161 |
(2) Since 2002 the figures have been calculated as full time equivalents. Earlier figures are the numbers of individuals.
HOME DEPARTMENT
Aerosol Paints
Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what action the Department is taking in assisting the police to enforce the ban on sales of aerosol paints to under-16s. [172497]
Ms Blears: We are in discussion with relevant stakeholders as to what further measures might be necessary to ensure the effective enforcement of these provisions.
The Together Action Line—0870 220 2000—is also available to practitioners throughout England and Wales to provide help and support in tackling anti-social behaviour. This includes police officers with queries on the aerosol paint ban. Throughout March we ran a series of Together Academies across the country to help professionals develop best practice in addressing all forms of anti-social behaviour.
These new powers are just one part of measures to tackle graffiti through our Together campaign on anti-social behaviour. For example, 12 pilot local authorities are testing new powers to clean graffiti from street furniture and public transport property. In addition our
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"name that tag" campaign, encouraging the public to report "taggers" sends a clear message to graffiti vandals that we will deal with the problem.
Animal Rights Activists
Michael Fabricant: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many animal rights activists have been arrested in the last 36 months, broken down by the type of offence for which they were arrested; how many were convicted; and what sentences were passed on those convicted. [168982]
Caroline Flint: It is not possible from the information collected centrally by the Home Office to identify whether a defendant is an animal rights activist.
However we understand from the police that there were 117 arrests of animal rights activists during the first four months of 2004 compared with 15 arrests during the same period in 2003.
Michael Fabricant: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many companies and organisations have reported illegal actions against them over the last 24 months by animal rights activists. [172057]
Caroline Flint: It is not possible from the information collected centrally by the Home Office to identify whether a victim of crime works in a company or organisation targeted by animal rights extremists. The Government are working closely with industry, the police and other criminal justice agencies to protect those who work in the pharmaceutical and bioscience industries and their suppliers.
Michael Fabricant: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans his Department has to introduce legislation to restrict the activities of animal rights activists; and if he will make a statement. [172061]
Caroline Flint: The police have a range of powers under existing criminal law and public order legislation to deal with the unlawful activities of animal rights extremists. Changes to legislation have been made to strengthen police powers to deal with intimidatory protests and office occupations in the Anti-social Behaviour Act 2003.
We are looking carefully at whether further action is needed to strengthen police powers to deal with the tactics employed by extremist protestors.
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