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22 Jul 2004 : Column 584W—continued
Departmental Expenditure
David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the cost was of satellite and cable subscriptions in his Department's buildings in the last year for which figures are available; and if he will list the premium channels that his Department subscribes to. [185277]
Fiona Mactaggart [holding answer 20 July 2004]: Figures for all the Department's buildings are not held centrally. The subscription for cable for the Home Office HQ for 2004–05 will be £20,609.67 plus VAT. No premium channels are subscribed to. This is to ensure access to full range of news and current affairs channels.
David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the cost was of running the canteen facilities of his Department in (a) 1996–97 and (b) the latest year for which figures are available. [184457]
Fiona Mactaggart [holding answer 16 July 2004]: Information on the level of the subsidy for canteen facilities in the Department's main central London buildings in 1996–97 is not available. The subsidy paid in 2002–03 was £180,000.
Departmental Mobile Phones
David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many mobile phones owned by his Department were reported lost or stolen since 2001. [185268]
Fiona Mactaggart: Only one item is showing on the Losses Register since 2001.
Departmental Refurbishment
David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the cost has been of refurbishments to the fabric of buildings owned by his Department since May 1997. [184454]
Fiona Mactaggart [holding answer 16 July 2004]: I refer the right hon. Member to the answer given to the hon. Member for Meirionnydd Nant Conwy (Mr. Llwyd) on 24 May 2004, Official Report, column 1409W.
Direct Communications Unit
Matthew Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what work is undertaken by the Direct Communications Unit at his Department; and if he will make a statement. [183163]
Fiona Mactaggart: The Direct Communications Unit consists of two sections—a Customer Communications Service and a Resource and Planning Section.
The Customer Communications Service consists of 72 staff and is responsible for a wide range of work in the area of customer communications. They provide:
A Front of House (reception) service at the Home Office's HQ building;
A public inquiry telephone service
Management and co-ordination of the production of replies to ministerial correspondence across the Home Office group, excluding agencies
Management and co-ordination of the production of replies to public correspondence, including emails, across the Home Office group, excluding agencies, HMPS and the Immigration and Nationality Department
Management of responses to requests for publications
Support for the Home Office's internal Directory of Business
Internal communications relating to correspondence performance and management
User support for, and management of the ongoing development of, the Correspondence Tracking System introduced last year
Support, management and development of the Correspondence Tracking System's Management Information System, and production of performance and management data.
The Resource and Planning Section consists of 16 staff, and provides a full range of business support services for the Communication Directorate, of which Direct Communications Unit is one part. The services provided include finance and budget management, procurement, business planning, risk management, accommodation support, business continuity planning, and human resources management.
Matthew Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what work is undertaken by the Public Contact Section of the Direct Communications Unit in his Department, broken down by policy areas covered; and how many (a) letters and (b) phone calls it has received each year since its creation, broken down by policy area. [183168]
Fiona Mactaggart: The Direct Communications Unit (DCU) was created on 1 September 2001.
The Public Contact Teams undertake the following work for all areas of the Home Office Group excluding Agencies:
Answering telephone calls from the public (other than on matters relating to HM Prison Service and Immigration and Nationality Department)
Front of House (Reception) Service at the Home Office headquarters building
The Correspondence Teams undertake the following work for all areas of the Home Office Group excluding Agencies:
Co-ordinating the provision of replies to correspondence from Members (and members of the House of Lords) addressed to Ministers
MP's hotline (for inquiries about correspondence from Members to Ministers)
Co-ordinating the provision of replies to correspondence from members of the public (not Her Majesty's Prison Service (HMPS) or the Immigration and Nationality Directorate (IND)
(a) The volume of letters received is given in the tables.
| Number | |
|---|---|
| 1 September to 31 December 2001 | 5,619 |
| 1 January to 31 December 2002 | 27,320 |
| 1 January to 31 December 2003 | 21,735 |
| 1 January to 31 May 2004 | 9,508 |
(67) Excludes agencies other than HMPS
22 Jul 2004 : Column 586W
| Number | |
|---|---|
| 1 September to 31 December 2001 | 12,695 |
| 1 January to 31 December 2002 | 43,886 |
| 1 January to 31 December 2003 | 22,074 |
| 1 January to 30 April 2004 | 5,846 |
(68) Excludes correspondence on IND and HMPS matters and since 1 July 2003 campaign correspondence i.e. that where 50 or more identical items are received.
The computerised Correspondence Tracking System was introduced for Ministerial Correspondence on 1 April 2003. A breakdown by policy area is available only from that date and is shown in the table.
| Policy area | 1 April to 31 December 2003 | 1 January to 31 May 2004 |
|---|---|---|
| IND | 9007 | 5301 |
| HMPS | 661 | 426 |
| Correctional Services | 362 | 327 |
| Human Resources | 0 | 4 |
| Crime Reduction and Community Safety Group | 2,423 | 1,422 |
| Community Policy | 937 | 553 |
| Criminal Justice Group | 810 | 447 |
| Reply drafted by DCU—no policy unit identified | 1,465 | 1,028 |
Letters from members of the public (other than campaigns, HMPS and IND) were included on the Correspondence Tracking System from 1 July 2003. A breakdown by policy area is available only from that date and is shown in the following table.
| Policy area | 1 July to 31 December 2003 | 1 January to 30 April 2004 |
|---|---|---|
| Correctional Services | 317 | 738 |
| Crime Reduction and Community Safety Group | 2,820 | 2,570 |
| Community Policy | 1,024 | 618 |
| Criminal Justice Group | 319 | 264 |
| Reply drafted by DCU—no policy unit identified | 3,207 | 1,656 |
The figures in the table do not include approximately 70,000 emails p.a. which are also handled by DCU. The handling of emails has only recently been transferred onto the Correspondence Tracking System, and data on distribution across policy areas are not yet available.
(b) The volume of telephone calls received from the public is given in the table. No breakdown by policy area is available.
| Number | |
|---|---|
| 1 September to 31 October 2001(69) | 9,914 |
| 1 January to 31 December 2002 | 70,320 |
| 1 January to 31 December 2003 | 70,352 |
| 1 January to 30 June 2004 | 33,416 |
(69) Data for November and December 2001 is not held
22 Jul 2004 : Column 587W
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