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21 Jul 2004 : Column 305W—continued
SCOTLAND
Departmental Annual Report
Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many copies of his Department's and predecessor Department's annual report were printed in each year since 1997; how many were sold in each year; and what the (a) publication cost and (b) sales revenue were. [183882]
Mrs. McGuire:
The Scotland Office was established on 1 July 1999.
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The Scotland Office has had 150 copies of its Annual Report printed each year since 1999. The report is also available on the Office's website.
The printing costs to the Scotland Office were as follows:
| £ | |
|---|---|
| 1999–2000 | 1,020 |
| 2000–01 | 3,160 |
| 2001–02 | 3,869 |
| 2002–03 | 4,036 |
| 2003–04 | 4,119 |
Other costs of printing and publication of the report are met directly by the publisher, The Stationery Office Limited (TSO), and did not fall to the Government. TSO recoups these costs through sales and uses its commercial judgment as to the number of copies printed. The numbers sold and the revenue from sales are matters for the publisher.
Departmental Staff
Mr. Bacon: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland who the Finance Director of (a) the Scotland Office and (b) the Registers of Scotland is; what accountancy qualifications each Director holds; and on how many occasions there has been a qualified opinion on (i) the resource accounts and (ii) other accounts in each of the last five years. [183456]
Mrs. McGuire [holding answer 14 July 2004]: The Scotland Office is a distinct entity within the Department for Constitutional Affairs. The Head of Finance at the Scotland Office is Norman Kernohan. He does not hold a professional accountancy qualification but he has full access to advice from professionally qualified staff in both the DCA and the Scottish Executive. The Scotland Office was established on 1 July 1999 and since that date none of its accounts have received a qualified opinion.
Questions about the Registers of Scotland are a matter for the Scottish Executive.
Public Relations
Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what the salary costs to the Department were for employees working in public relations and publicity in each year since 1997. [183859]
Mrs. McGuire: The Scotland Office was established on 1 July 1999. The Office has no staff working solely on public relations or publicity. The cost of press office staff was as follows:
| £ | |
|---|---|
| 1999–2000 | 1, 2 44,078 |
| 2000–01 | 139,705 |
| 2001–02 | 134,702 |
| 2002–03 | (12)99,166 |
| 2003–04 | (13)111,202 |
(11) Part year cost from 1 July 1999.
(12) Part year cost because of vacancies.
(13) Estimated.
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Travel Costs
Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what the travel costs were of civil servants in (a) his Department and (b) its predecessor Department in each year since 1997. [183891]
Mrs. McGuire: The Scotland Office was established on 1 July 1999.
The following table shows the overall expenditure costs of civil servants in the Scotland Office and the Office of the Advocate-General on travel and subsistence since that date.
| £ | |
|---|---|
| 1999–2000 | (14)179,669 |
| 2000–01 | 318,858 |
| 2001–02 | 330,496 |
| 2002–03 | 346,373 |
| 2003–04 | (15)264,407 |
(14) Part year: the Scotland Office was established on 1 July 1999.
(15) Financial year 2003–04 costs are provisional, pending finalisation of Annual Accounts.
All official travel is undertaken in accordance with the rules contained in the Civil Service Management Code.
Departmental Publications (Storage)
Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many departmental publications are in storage; and where they are located. [183860]
Mrs. McGuire:
Most of the publications for the Scotland Office and the Office of the Advocate-General are produced on our behalf by commercial publishers, such as The Stationery Office. The retention and storage
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of items published commercially are matters for the publishers. Policy divisions with the Office retain small quantities of publications for working purposes. Details of recent publications are on the Scotland Office website, www.scottishsecretary.gov.uk.
TREASURY
Amateur Sports Clubs
Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what further benefits for community amateur sports clubs he plans to introduce; and if he will make a statement. [185012]
John Healey: The 2004 Spending Review has made increased funding available to sport. The benefit to Community Amateur Sports Clubs (CASCs) will depend on the spending plans of the Department for Culture Media and Sport. The Government are keen to ensure that as many eligible amateur sports clubs as possible benefit from the tax and other reliefs available to CASCs. The Chancellor will continue to keep the scheme under review in the context of the annual Budget process.
Bank of England (Regional Offices)
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list the Bank of England's regional offices; and what their annual expenditure was in each of the last five years. [184976]
Ruth Kelly: The following table provides the annual expenditure of the Bank's regional agencies for the last five years:
| Financial Year from 1 March | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Region | Location | 1999–2000 | 2000–01 | 2001–02 | 2002–03 | 2003–04 |
| South West | Bristol/Exeter | 422 | 397 | 407 | 502 | 526 |
| West Midlands | Birmingham | 488 | 391 | 437 | 456 | 439 |
| Scotland | Glasgow | 396 | 382 | 435 | 498 | 531 |
| Yorkshire and the Humber | Leeds | — | 283 | 393 | 448 | 425 |
| North West | Liverpool/Manchester | 1,097 | 644 | 584 | 689 | 611 |
| Northern Ireland | Belfast | 334 | 228 | 255 | 281 | 305 |
| North East | Newcastle upon Tyne | 367 | 360 | 390 | 401 | 349 |
| Central Southern | Southampton | 421 | 412 | 457 | 499 | 446 |
| Wales | Cardiff | 407 | 349 | 383 | 452 | 407 |
| East Midlands | Nottingham | 355 | 323 | 336 | 400 | 355 |
| South East and East Anglia | Cambridge | 299 | 412 | 440 | 519 | 468 |
| London | London | 69 | 259 | 280 | 332 | 286 |
| Total | 4,656 | 4,442 | 4,799 | 5,477 | 5,150 | |
Childcare Tax Credit
Mr. Willetts: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many applications for the childcare tax credit have been (a) rejected and (b) initially paid and then rejected as invalid. [185695]
Dawn Primarolo: This information is not readily available and could not be obtained without incurring disproportionate cost.
Mr. Willetts: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what his estimate is of the average time between submission of an application for a childcare tax credit and the first payment; [185702]
(2) what the length is of the average claim for childcare tax credit. [185704]
Dawn Primarolo: Claims for the childcare element of the working tax credit are made as part of a single claim for child and working tax credits. For the time taken to process such claims, I refer the hon. Member to my reply to the hon. Member for Truro and St. Austell (Matthew Taylor) on 8 September 2003, Official Report, columns 21–22W.
Departmental Accounting Practice
Mr. Bacon:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer who the Finance Director of (a) the Treasury, (b) the
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Inland Revenue Trust, (c) Customs and Excise, (d) the Government Actuary's Department, (e) the Crown Estate, (f) the Royal Mint, (g) the Office of National Statistics, (h) National Savings and Investments and (i) Inland Revenue is; what accountancy qualifications
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each Director holds; and on how many occasions there has been a qualified opinion on (i) the resource accounts and (ii) other accounts of each in the last five years. [183419]
Ruth Kelly: The answer is as follows.
| Department | Finance Director | Accountancy qualifications |
|---|---|---|
| HM Treasury | Mrs Hilary Douglas (Managing Director, Corporate Services) | None, but supported by a fully qualified Head of Finance |
| Ms Mary Keegan (from 1 September 2004) | Fellow, Institute of Chartered Accountants | |
| Customs and Excise | Ms Alison French | None, but supported by a qualified and experienced team |
| Government Actuary's Department | Mrs Kirn Clegg | Associate, Chartered Institute of Management Accountants |
| The Crown Estate | Mr John Lelliott | Fellow, Association of Chartered Certified Accountants |
| The Royal Mint | Mr Huw Edwards | Associate, Institute of Chartered Accountants |
| Office for National Statistics | Mr Peter Murphy | None |
| National Savings and Investments | Mr Trevor Bayley | Fellow, Institute of Chartered Accountants |
| Inland Revenue and The Inland Revenue Trust | Mr Stephen Jones | None |
As to the qualification of the accounts of the Chancellor's departments, I refer the hon. Member to the accounts themselves.
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