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Lembit Öpik: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what discussions he has had with Laura Ashley concerning the future of Laura Ashley jobs in mid Wales; and if he will make a statement. [189612]
Mr. Touhig: While my right hon. Friend and I have not met the company recently, we are aware of the company's recent announcement that it intends to reduce it's work force at Newtown and Carno by up to 90. I very much regret the loss of these valuable jobs to the Mid Wales economy.
I understand that the company took this decision as part of its drive for greater operating efficiency and is currently in consultation with unions and those affected by the decision.
I am assured that the Assembly's Team Wales partners, including the Welsh Development Agency, are in regular discussions with the company about the situation and will provide all the support they can to find alternative employment for those affected. This includes opening discussions with other local companies currently looking to recruit staff.
Mr. Alan Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will propose to the First Secretary of the National Assembly for Wales that he make a comparable assessment of the appointment systems for the Head of Public Sector Audit in Wales and the Comptroller and Auditor General in England, with particular reference to safeguards for the independence of the incumbent. [188562]
Mr. Hain: I am being consulted on the appointment process for the Auditor General for Wales. I am satisfied that it will conform to the Nolan principles and safeguard the independence of the Auditor General.
Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what the travel costs were of civil servants in (a) his Department and (b) its predecessor Department in each year since 1997. [183895]
Mr. Touhig: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the right hon. Member for Haltemprice and Howden (David Davis) on 7 July 2004, Official Report, column 698W, which gives information about all travel costs incurred by the Wales Office.
The Wales Office has not previously distinguished between all of the travel costs for Ministers and civil servants, and could provide this information only at disproportionate cost.
All official travel is undertaken in accordance with the rules contained in the Civil Service Management Code.
11 Oct 2004 : Column 9W
Mr. Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many employees of the Wales Office speak Welsh. [188992]
Mr. Touhig: 9 per cent. of Wales Office staff are Welsh speakers. Others have some knowledge of the language.
Mr. Gale: To ask the Leader of the House for how many (a) hours and (b) days the House has sat in each month during Session 200304. [190010]
Mr. Hain: The information requested is as follows:
Month | (a) Hours | (b) Days |
---|---|---|
November 2003 | 17h 52m | 2 |
December 2003 | 93h 5m | 12 |
January 2004 | 123h 3m | 17 |
February 2004 | 103h 34m | 14 |
March 2004 | 177h 44m | 22 |
April 2004 | 81h 40m | 11 |
May 2004 | 131h 12m | 17 |
June 2004 | 117h 53m | 16 |
July 2004 | 109h 29m | 14 |
September 2004 | 57h 52m | 7 |
Harry Cohen: To ask the Solicitor-General what the key role of the Attorney-General is in relation to armed forces investigations and possible prosecutions in respect of allegations of criminal mistreatment of Iraqis or of theft of Iraqi property; and if she will make a statement. [179796]
The Solicitor-General: The armed forces prosecuting authorities act independently of the military chain of command. They are subject to the general superintendence of the Attorney General. The current position in relation to the system for investigating and prosecuting soldiers currently serving in Iraq and which involve Iraqi civilians was set out in the written statement by the Attorney General, Official Report, House of Lords, 14 June 2004, c. WS 2224.
The Attorney plays no role in relation to armed forces investigations. These are undertaken by the Royal Military Police or other service police authority for which the Secretary of State for Defence is responsible.
Mr. Bacon: To ask the Solicitor-General who the Finance Director is of the (a) Crown Prosecution Service, (b) Serious Fraud Office and (c) Treasury Solicitor's Department 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 of each office in the last five years. [183432]
The Solicitor-General: The Finance Directors for the Law Officers' Departments are: Mr. John Graham, Crown Prosecution Service, Mr. David Partridge, Serious Fraud Office. Ms Hilary Jackson, Treasury Solicitor's Department carries out the functions of Finance Director as specified in HM Treasury's 'Government Accounting' in her role as Director of Corporate Strategy.
None of the Finance Directors above holds an accountancy qualification. The Director of Finance for the CPS is supported by staff with accountancy qualifications. The Finance Director of the Serious Fraud Office is supported by two fully qualified accountants in the finance team and his Head of Accountancy is a Management Board member. The Treasury Solicitor's Director of Finance and Information Systems is a Fellow of the Chartered Association of Certified Accountants. He is responsible for day to day financial management, reporting to the Director of Corporate Strategy, and is a member of the Board. The Treasury Solicitor's Board membership has included a fully qualified accountant since January 2001.
The Crown Prosecution Service's resource accounts for the years 19992000 to 200203 have been agreed by the National Audit Office without qualification. An audit opinion on the resource accounts for 200304 will be available later in the year.
The SFO's accounts received a qualified opinion in 200102. There have been no other qualified audit opinions.
The Treasury Solicitor's Department received qualified audit opinions on its resource and agency accounts in 19992000 and 200001. Audit opinion on the 200304 accounts will not be available until later in the year.
Mr. Letwin: To ask the Solicitor-General what the administration costs were for (a) the Crown Prosecution Service, (b) the Serious Fraud Office and (c) the Treasury Solicitor's Department between the financial years 199697 and 199798. [186060]
The Solicitor-General: Details of the Law Officers' Departments gross running costs for 199697 and 199798 are contained in Table 5.5 of the Public Expenditure Statistical Analyses 200001 (Cm 4601). These figures are on a cash basis. From Public Expenditure Analyses 200102 (Cm 5101), departments' administrative expenditure was reported on a resource basis, as administration costs.
Mr. Andrew Turner: To ask the Solicitor-General whether (a) her Department and (b) agencies for which it is responsible (i) have a set retirement age which applies to all or most personnel and (ii) have a maximum age beyond which applications for employment will not be considered; and what the age is in each case. [186079]
The Solicitor-General:
The contractual normal retirement age for most staff in the Crown Prosecution Service is 60.
11 Oct 2004 : Column 11W
CPS policy does not deal specifically with this point but in practice the CPS would not normally consider applications for permanent employment if the applicant will have reached the normal contractual retirement age of 60, or beyond, before taking up an appointment.
The retirement age in operation at HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate (HMCPSI) is 60 years. However, staff who wish to remain in post after the age of 60 may do so at the discretion of the chief inspector, who will take the following into consideration; the officer's performance, efficiency and HMCPSI's business requirements. Staff on loan from other Government Departments would be subject to the arrangements of the parent department.
Due to the nature of its work the Inspectorate would be unlikely to appoint an individual as an inspector who had less than three years to serve before his or her normal retirement age. However all decisions would be taken on the basis of performance, efficiency and management requirements.
The serious fraud office has a flexible retirement policy covering staff below the senior civil service. The policy offers a minimum retirement age of 60 years at which employees may opt to retire and receive full accrued superannuation benefits as of right. Employees cannot remain in employment beyond the day prior to their 65th birthday.
The normal retirement age for the senior civil service is 60. However, the serious fraud office has the flexibility to retain members of the senior civil service beyond 60 if it is judged to be in the public interest and is satisfied about the fitness and efficiency of the individual to carry out his or her duties.
There is no maximum age (save for the above policy) beyond which applications for employment will not be considered. Job applicants are made aware of the above policy in the application pack.
The Treasury Solicitor's Department and the Legal Secretariat to the Law Officers, have a 'normal' retirement age of 60 for all their staff. This is the minimum age at which, staff can retire with full superannuation benefits.
All staff must retire by age 65 except in wholly exceptional circumstances agreed by the Treasury Solicitor. Similarly applications from staff in the senior civil service, for an extension of service beyond age 60, are subject to the specific approval of the Treasury Solicitor.
There is no bar on age in relation to recruitment. For legal trainees, recruited through the Government Legal Service, there is a two year qualifying period (the training contract) after which, Departments will expect to receive a reasonable period of qualified service.
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