---

28 Jun 2004 : Column 10W—continued

Royal Collection

Mr. Alan Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport who audits the accuracy of the inventory of items in the Royal Collection; and what assessment she has made of whether the inventory is comprehensive. [180471]

Estelle Morris: The maintenance and care of the Royal Collection is the responsibility of the Royal Collection Trust and not the Government. I understand
 
28 Jun 2004 : Column 11W
 
that Royal Collection staff carry out regular inventory checks to ensure the accuracy and completeness of the inventory. The process is reviewed regularly by the Royal Household's Internal Audit Department and their reports are reviewed by the Royal Collection Trust's external auditors.

Stonehenge

Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much public funding has been spent on Stonehenge in each year since 1990. [175273]

Estelle Morris: Since 1990, English Heritage has spent £36,404,000 of public funds on Stonehenge and generated an income of £42,843,000. This is broken down as follows:
£000

	Grant in aid	Income
1990–91	1,099	1,720
1991–92	1,665	1,666
1992–93	1,615	1,917
1993–94	1,671	2,348
1994–95	1,632	2,561
1995–96	2,114	2,754
1996–97	2,468	3,161
1997–98	2,046	3,316
1998–99	2,693	3,761
1999–2000	2,999	4,045
2000–01	5,355	3,840
2001–02	3,831	3,567
2002–03	3,898	3,870
2003–04	3,318	4,287
Total	36,404	42,843

The net profit of £6,439,000 has been re-invested in the wider work of English Heritage, which covers conservation, education, grants to third parties, research and the upkeep of over 400 properties in its care.

Television Advertising

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what discussions she has held with Ofcom on regulation of advertisements on television. [180477]

Estelle Morris: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has had various discussions with Ofcom regarding the regulation of broadcast advertising—particularly in relation to current concerns about the possible impact of broadcast advertising on childhood obesity and Ofcom's proposals for the future co-regulation of broadcast advertising. DCMS officials have also had a wide variety of contacts with Ofcom to discuss these issues.

David Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what recent assessment has been made of standards in advertising on television. [180447]

Estelle Morris: The Communications Act 2003 provides for Ofcom to have general responsibility for the regulation of the content of broadcasting services, including all television advertising. It is for Ofcom to ensure that there is an appropriate standards code for the regulation of broadcast advertising and that it is targeted and proportionate.
 
28 Jun 2004 : Column 12W
 

Working Time Directive

Mr. Tynan: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many employees in her Department have (a) signed a formal opt out from and (b) are exempt from, the Working Time Directive; and how many employees in her Department have recorded hours, including any accruing on a flexitime basis, in excess of the maximum allowed under the Working Time Directive in the last month for which figures are available. [178367]

Mr. Caborn: In my Department, (a) formal opt-out forms from the Working Time Directive are held at local management level and are not readily available and (b) there is no one who is exempt from the formal opt-out agreement. Working hours including those accruing on a flexitime basis, are monitored by line managers locally and no central figures are available. The Department is committed to reducing the number of staff who are required to work in excess of 48 hours per week to an absolute minimum commensurate with meeting our operational needs.

PRIME MINISTER

Health Services (Buckinghamshire)

Mrs. Gillan: To ask the Prime Minister whether he has responded to the consultation paper Shaping Health Services—Creating Better Healthcare for Buckinghamshire. [180970]

The Prime Minister: No.

Lord Birt/Lord Levy

Norman Baker: To ask the Prime Minister pursuant to paragraph 51 of the Ministerial Code, on what dates letters of appointment were issued by him to (a) Lord Birt and (b) Lord Levy, in their capacity as unpaid advisors; and if he will place copies of those letters in the Library. [180557]

The Prime Minister: Details of an individual's conditions of appointment are not made public in order to protect the privacy of the individual concerned under exemptions 8 and 12 of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information.

HOUSE OF COMMONS

Computer Services

Michael Fabricant: To ask the Chairman of the Information Committee if the Parliamentary Communications Directorate will (a) provide information to hon. Members about services available and (b) update computers to permit centrally provided lap-top personal computers to be enabled to dial-up local numbers when abroad to access an internet service provider in order to use the web-based Outlook facility. [180266]

Mr. Key: There are no plans to provide Members with access to a local Internet Service Provider (ISP) while they are abroad. Members can already access the
 
28 Jun 2004 : Column 13W
 
Parliamentary Network while abroad using either the Citrix remote access service or a Virtual Private Network dial-up account; both of these involve making a telephone call to a UK number and Members can claim the cost of such calls from their Incidental Expenses Provision. The Parliamentary Communications Directorate (PCD) plans to make web-based access to a Members' e-mail and on-line diary available before the Houses rises for the summer recess. With this new service, access will be possible from any computer with an Internet connection, such as computers provided in conference or hotel business centres, airport departure lounges, and Internet cafes. The software used will ensure that no trace of the Member's activity is left on the computer and that it is not possible for anyone to decipher a Member's password details.

If Members wish to use their own lap-tops with a local ISP while abroad, they will first need to make some arrangement with a local ISP in the country they are visiting. The number dialled by a lap-top computer can readily be changed to allow access to an alternative ISP and PCD can advise hon. Members how to do this. The Information Committee will look at the possibility of providing (i) a list of local ISPs for as many countries as possible, and (ii) information on subscription services that facilitate global roaming.

HOUSE OF COMMONS COMMISSION

Communications Directorate

Norman Baker: To ask the hon. Member for Roxburgh and Berwickshire, representing the House of Commons Commission pursuant to his Answer of 18 May 2004, Official Report, column 850W, on House employees, what the duties are of the 69 full-time equivalent employees involved in communications. [180631]

Sir Archy Kirkwood: The staff of the Parliamentary Communications Directorate are responsible for a range of House-wide IT services, and are divided into three sections. Those in the Operations and Customer Services Section are responsible for the Parliamentary Network (which has approximately 5,500 user accounts), including network infrastructure, servers and common services such as email; telephony services (7000+ extensions), including the Operator Bureau (handling an average of 3,000 calls per day), voicemail and mobile communications; Members' computing support; the PCD Helpdesk (average 300 calls per day) and customer services.

Staff in the Planning and Programmes section provide project and programme management support; develop new IT services and technical standards, and manage business processes such as software licensing. The third section, Information Systems, manages and develops a number of key Parliamentary databases, as well as providing IT support to the Department of the Serjeant at Arms, the Office of the Clerk and others.

Norman Baker: To ask the hon. Member for Roxburgh and Berwickshire, representing the House of Commons Commission pursuant to his answer of 18 May 2004,
 
28 Jun 2004 : Column 14W
 
to the hon. Member for Preseli Pembrokeshire (Mrs. Lawrence), Official Report, column 850W, on running costs, what factors underlie the increase in costs attributed to communications between 1995 and 2003. [180633]

Sir Archy Kirkwood: The bulk of the running costs, on average just under 90 per cent., are accounted for by expenditure on staff, so any change in staffing levels has a direct impact on the overall running costs. The change in the staffing levels of the Communications Directorate in the period 1995 to 2003 was influenced by a number of factors. These include:

the expansion of the pilot PDVN to a full Parliament-wide network;

the increase in the number of users and hence support they require;

improvements to the resilience of the network and associated underlying engineering support;

the central provision of equipment to Members;

the creation of the helpdesk and, latterly, extension of its opening hours; and,

more services being provided over the network for Members, Peers and Parliamentary departments and offices.

---